Performance of Aqueous Emulsifier on Reducing Viscosity of Crude Oil

Aqueous emulsifier, FSJN-1 and FSJN-2, aimed at reducing viscosity of crude oil was prepared. The performances of the aqueous emulsifiers, in comparison with conventional surfactants, were evaluated by water drop, emulsion viscosity and interfacial property. The self-developed emulsfier, FSJN-1 and FSJN-2, showed favorable performance on reducing the oil viscosity and emulsifying stability. The viscosity of the emulsions formed by FSJN-1 and FSJN-2 was 11.2 mPas and 10.3 mPas, respectively, far below the viscosity of the crude oil. Water drop of the emulsion was considerable low. It was below 40%, even 50 hours after the emulsions were prepared. However, for ordinary surfactants, the viscosity emulsion prepared by the ordinary surfactant is relative high. For emulsions of CDA, the viscosity is even higher than the oil viscosity. The aqueous emulsifier, FSJN-1 and FSJN-2, also show high efficiency in reducing the oil/water interfacial tension. The equilibrium interfacial tension is at the order of 10-2 mN/m. Totally speaking, the self-prepared viscosity reducing aqueous fluids show favorable performance on emulsion stability, viscosity reducing efficiency and reducing the interfacial tension, and it may play an important role in oil recovery of oil with high viscosity.